


It's The Little Things

by SkyWrite



Category: Ginger and Mint
Genre: Fluff, Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-15
Updated: 2018-12-15
Packaged: 2019-09-18 11:08:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,272
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16993869
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SkyWrite/pseuds/SkyWrite
Summary: Grayson notices his mentor has been feeling down lately, and consults his classmates on ideas for how to cheer him up. The first year class all ends up pitching together to bring a gift to Ryder, made with love!





	It's The Little Things

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Myxini](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Myxini/gifts).



> Hey everyone! This is a fan fiction of my friend [Myx’s](https://ginger-and-mint.tumblr.com) story, called [Ginger and Mint!](https://archiveofourown.org/works/12705144) I got the idea from our conversations and I love her story and her characters so much I really wanted to write for them. ^o^ I hope you all enjoy it!

It was still early morning, and Grayson kept trying to stifle his yawns, hoping not to earn a stern glance from Ryder. He’d stayed up too late the night before, playing cards with the others, laughing and sharing a loaf of sponge cake, but it had been worth it. He could grab a nap later perhaps, once he was finished helping in the Soothing Room. He was good at stealing small snippets of sleep; 20 minutes or so at a time to take the edge off of drowsiness but not long enough to doze too deeply. His upbringing had been good for a few handy life skills, at least.

He was studiously tying his way through a pile of mint when he heard a sigh that was so downhearted, it made him look up in concern. Across the room, his mentor was kneeling next to a wooden crate, one Grayson recognized, as it had been delivered the day before, containing fresh herbs and ingredients for brewing tonic.

As Ryder’s hand brushed over the corner of it, before he pried up the lid, Grayson realized the boards on one side were pitted and splintered, as if it had been dropped on its side at some point. When Ryder peered over the contents, his expression grew even more glum, then he reached inside and began pulling out objects and setting them aside.

“Hey, Ryder?” Grayson felt compelled to speak up. “Everything okay?”

Ryder paused only momentarily before continuing to sort. “This crate was damaged before it arrived, and some of the herbs are spoiled. Filling orders of tonic for both OSM and RAMA this week might be a bit of a stretch.”

“Oh.” Grayson frowned as he watched Ryder stand, dust off his palms, and leave to retrieve a basket before returning, loading the ruined herbs into it to be thrown out. “Can I help?” He started to get up, but the reply stopped him.

“No, no. It’s better for you to stay with that while I take care of this.” Ryder stood, carrying the basket over his arm, and headed for the door of the Soothing Room. “I’ll be right back, I’m just going to take this out to the garden compost.”

“Okay.” Grayson watched him go, closing the door to the room behind him, and sat back in his chair for a moment, thinking.

His mentor had looked so _despondent_ , just now. Was he really that worried about the tonic orders? Ryder always seemed so unshakable; a bedrock of calmness and composure amidst the scurry of academic and social life around the school… it was almost unsettling to see him looking so down. Something else must be bothering him, and the spoiled herbs were just another straw on the proverbial camel’s back.

He thought about asking if anything was wrong, but when Ryder came back and shooed him off after finishing his work, he couldn’t think of anything helpful to say. His mentor usually turned away any inquiries about himself and how he was doing anyways, with a smile and a smooth reassurance that there was nothing to be concerned about. So instead, as Grayson walked the dusty, carpeted hallways back to the saffron apartments, a plan began slowly formulating in his mind, and he knew just who to bounce ideas off of.

“You want to surprise Ryder?” Kara’s response was only mildly bewildered, which was hopefully a good sign. She looked up from where she was making tea, “Where’d this come from, Ives?”

Grayson gave her a hesitant shrug. “I just— he seems so down, and I want to do something to help, but he’s not the most open person with how he feels, and I thought maybe it would just be good to show him how appreciated he is for once? He does so much to help everyone here and the least we could do is try to cheer him up, right?”

“I think that’s nice.” Bramley spoke up from where he was settled on the couch, dipping his chin bashfully as both Kara and Grayson turned to look at him. “I mean, I think that would be a nice thing to do for him. Maybe you could write him a letter or give him something?”

“That’s the thing,” Grayson rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m not sure what I would give him. And honestly I’m not that good with words.”

“Good at blurting them out, maybe.” A bright voice with a good-natured edge came from over their shoulders and all three turned to look.

“Oh, hey Mal!” Kara piped up with a smile.

“Only kidding, of course.” Malia flicked a hand teasingly at Grayson who was giving her a reproachful frown. She closed the door to her room behind her and moved further into the den. “What are all of you talking about?”

Kara sat down with her mug. “Apparently, Ryder’s been kind of gloomy, and Ives here wants to do something to cheer him up.”

“Aw, that’s actually really sweet of you, you know.” Malia smiled at Grayson and he coughed a little, embarrassed.

“But I don’t even know what to do, so, I thought maybe one of you might have some ideas?”

“Why don’t we make it a gift from all of us?” Kara smiled as she sipped her tea, eyes sparkling. She was warming up to the idea greatly, and for good reason. “We could all contribute a little something and you could write him a note, since you know him best. I, for one, have a lot of confidence in my family’s recipes for cheering-up purposes.”

It took a second for that to click, and Grayson tilted his head in confusion. “You want to make bread? For Ryder?”

“Of course! Trust me, I know a bread connoisseur when I see one. We go for the rolls first at the dinner table, after all.”

“Um, I can—“ Bramley started again, a little louder, “I could make him a scarf? Cold outside.”

“That’s a great idea!” Malia told him encouragingly, and a beat later, Grayson backed her up. He was starting to really like the idea too.

“Yeah, Bram, that would be fantastic.” He grinned in response to the huge smile his classmate sent his way. “Kara’s famous bread and your cozy knitting. Perfect pick-me-up.”

Malia spoke over Kara’s delighted laughter in response to the “famous” remark, “He’ll need something good to spread on those rolls, mind. Let’s you and I go into town, Ives, and pick out some preserves. I’m not very crafty but I know some lovely varieties of fruit that make good preserves. A lot of culture comes through Kingswood, after all.”

“Hold on a sec, when do you plan to give this to him?” Kara questioned, contemplation crossing her face. “Tonight?”

“Uh…” Grayson hadn’t actually thought that far ahead. “Tomorrow, actually, I think. Yeah. I feel like it would be awkward if I just handed him something. He really keeps to a schedule, so I could leave it on his desk around the time I know he takes a break for lunch. Which is around noon, I’m pretty sure.”

“Perfect!” Malia declared, reaching for her coat. Grayson looked over at Bramley again.

“It wouldn’t stress you out or anything, would it? Making a whole scarf between now and then?”

Bramley’s blue eyes glimmered in amusement, perhaps with a bit of pride as well. “Oh no, don’t worry about that. Only takes me a few hours to knit a scarf. Noon tomorrow s’plenty of time.”

“Alright, get going, if we head out to town too late, the shops will be closed!” Malia tossed Grayson his coat and prodded him towards the door, glancing over her shoulder with a smile at Kara and Bramley. “See you two in a bit!”

Grayson mostly tagged along and watched as Malia meticulously picked out little jars of jam from one of the artisan corner-stores, only speaking up when her armload overflowed and she began passing them off to him. “Um… are you sure it wouldn’t just be easier to get one big jar?”

Malia gave him a look, lightened by a smile. “Where’s your sense of adventure, Ives? Don’t we want this to be an exciting basket to open?”

“Well, yeah, but I mean…” Grayson pursed his lips. “I dunno, maybe he’d just like to have lots of one jam that he really likes. Ryder doesn’t exactly seem like the adventurous sort?”

“Really?” Malia blinked, looking genuinely surprised. “He does to me.”

“How so?”

“Oh— hmm. Come to think of it…” Malia considered heavily. “I guess it’s more my intuition that tells me that. I can just smell it on him. Something tells me that if you asked him, he’d have quite the life story to tell.”

“Maybe someday I will.” Grayson murmured thoughtfully, following Malia to the counter to check out their six jars of jam.

He listened intently when she started off on a tangent about how once they were empty, the small glass jars would make perfect pots for little plants. He was sure Ryder would like that too, and he told her so, and the way Malia beamed at him in response had the shopkeeper making a remark, and they quickly corrected him.

_We’re friends._

The apartment was filled with the heavenly aroma of fresh bread when they got back, and Grayson’s mouth watered at the same time Malia exclaimed with a laugh, “Oh wow! Kara, I hope you made enough for us too.”

The girl laughed, lifting the baking tray with a wink. “These actually _are_ for us! I’m going to test them on all of you and then bake the best ones fresh in the morning. You don’t want to give day-old bread as a gift!”

“I am more than happy to be a guinea pig for Baker family bread.” Grayson hummed in appreciation, turning his head suddenly at an exclamation from Malia.

“Creator’s blood, Bram! Did you only start that right after we left?”

Bramley sat proudly, a stretch of knitted wool in his hands in a dapper blue-grey color, already as long as his forearm. “Yup. What do you think?”

“I think it’s gonna be amazing.” Grayson told him seriously, and his classmate’s eyes twinkled. “Nice color, too.”

“Oh, well of course you would think that, wouldn’t you, _Gray_ son.” Kara teased and he snorted at her.

“Ha ha. Real funny.”

“It’s for his hat.” Bramley mumbled with another smile. “The one he always wears to town.”

“Oh!” Malia leaned on the back of the couch to pat his shoulder affectionately. “It does seem like it would match his hat! You’re so thoughtful, Bram.”

“Ah.” Bramley croaked, turning beet red.

Kara had set her pan of rolls down and motioned Grayson over, helping him unload all the little jars of jam from his arms. “Oh wow, these are so cute! So many of them too, mmm— apple, strawberry; let’s see…” She set a couple down on the counter, “Muscadine! Sounds exotic. Plum, blueberry, ooh. Fig. That’s a great one.”

“Malia thinks Ryder’ll like tasting all the different fruits.”

“I bet he will!” Kara grinned, reaching overhead for a plate to stack the rolls on. “Would you get out our own pot of jam, Ives? These are ready for that ‘testing.’”

The four of them piled onto the living room cushions and chairs, snagging little loafs and scraping them with spoonfuls of butter and jam. The bread was _delicious_ , and Kara’s talent thoroughly complimented yet again, as she laughed and smiled and Bramley set aside his knitting to avoid getting crumbs in the yarn.

Grayson went to the Soothing Room as usual the next day to do his work, but when he was certain Ryder had disappeared into his quarters for lunch, he darted out into the hallway to meet Kara, who was carrying the freshly-packed basket with all its goodies inside. It was still warm to the touch, and Grayson left it on his mentor’s desk, along with a carefully-written letter. He’d started multiple times and then scratched through, crumpled the paper, and started again, but he didn’t want the note to be rambly and awkward.

_Hey Ryder,_

_We just wanted to do something to let you know how much all you do means to us. This school would be a wreck without you here, and we mean that in the best way possible. You’ve helped all of us in so many ways, so we wanted to give a little back, and we hope things get better soon. Thanks for everything._

_Sincerely, The First Years_

And at the bottom of the page, they’d all signed, their names each carrying the quirks of their own handwriting. The letter was nestled atop a checkered cloth, tucked around warm, steaming loaves with golden brown crusts. The jars of jam were packed in the leftover spaces, and Bramley’s knitted scarf was folded in the bottom of the basket, with a corner peeking out of the side so it wouldn’t be missed.

The four of them tried to catch sneaky glimpses of Ryder the rest of the day, hoping to see him looking cheered up or even just a little less sad. It was Kara who deftly stole a glance just after dinner that night, of a contented smile on his dark face, and swiftly ducked out of sight, moving quickly to catch up with her classmates before a wave of giggling drifted down the hall. Maybe “sneaky” wasn’t the right word though. Ryder’s gaze was very knowing above his poorly-hidden grin, as his eyes followed the trail of retreating footsteps into the corridor.


End file.
